Credit Tuneup Best 1st Step For Buyers

February 10, 1991

Deals for wheels can be trouble if your credit is not up to snuff. The most common obstacle to buying a car is a tainted credit file.

Financing is difficult to impossible for consumers with negative, often inaccurate, items lurking in their credit histories. When such consumers do get financing, it carries a price: higher interest rates.

These consumers often are prime targets for unscrupulous credit repair

``clinics.``

San-Francisco-based credit expert Daniel K. Berman advises consumers to do their own credit repair. ``Any kind of credit problem can be overcome if you learn how,`` said Berman.

The most common technique used by the credit repair clinics exploits a legal loophole in the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, Berman said.

Section 611a gives you the right to dispute the accuracy of any information in your credit file. If you write your dispute letters according to certain specific guidelines, the credit bureau must verify the accuracy of the disputed information within approximately 30 days, or delete it from the file.

As a result, disputed items often are removed by default because the 30-day limit has expired.